To Extinguish a Flame
by anywhat
Summary: Just a little one-shot I had spinning around my head for awhile. Not Slash.


**A/N: I was just wondering why no one saw Scorpion after Noob was resurrected. **

He had seen the black demon only once since Quan Chi had made the latest addition to their little family, but the man was still burning in his mind just behind his eyes. His blinding bright eyes, although the same as his own, spoke of secrets and Scorpion felt as if, at that one first look, the black assassin knew everything Scorpion was, hidden or else wise. For the first time since his death, Scorpion felt something like fear birth itself in the pit of his stomach.

Now Scorpion walked the inner hallways of Quan Chi's fortress, hopeful that the exercise would help clear his mind. A futile hope, for all the practice succeeded in doing was pumping blood into his brain which would not grant him peace. Instead, thoughts of the new addition, Noob Saibot as Quan Chi had named him, ran rampant through his mind. Where had he seen him before? For the demon was familiar to him, like a nightmare forgotten in the light of day.

Scorpion found himself in a large domed room, where several of the hallways connected. Torches burned at intervals, set into hollows in the wall and casting putrid shadows on the gray stone. Scorpion walked to the middle of the room, pausing while he decided which way to turn. He knew one of these halls led to Quan Chi's quarters, another to the flesh room, but they all looked similar and Scorpion was at a loss. _Perhaps I should just walk back. There's no point in continuing this exercise, _Scorpion reasoned with himself as he turned back. He froze, however, his mind copying his body, when he saw Saibot standing in the hall he had just vacated, arms loose at his sides while he stared at him.

"Is something wrong?" Saibot spoke through the haze of fear that had encumbered Scorpion's mind. Scorpion had not yet heard the fiend speak, and the rich baritone infused with the lightest of mockery did nothing to put him at ease. He silently cursed himself for letting his opponent speak first. It put him on the defensive.

"Mind your own business!" the specter snapped, hoping the angry yet unconcerned tone would lie to the black demon successfully. But it didn't.

Scorpion knew without seeing that Saibot was smiling. His soulless – or was it in fact his soul shining through? – eyes narrowed at the edges as he took apart the golden ninja before him, and Scorpion felt the fear in him grow.

"But you are my business," Noob said calmly, his voice deceptively smooth. "You've been my business for quite some time now."

"What are you talking about?" Scorpion growled, every small hair on his body standing on edge. He racked his brain, looking for this man, this demon that was so terrifyingly familiar yet implacable. Nothing came to mind.

Noob chuckled, a dark, ominous sound that made Scorpion think of moonless nights. Even looking at the demon in the hallway was difficult. The firelight seemed to be repelled by him, slipping off his body in thick rivers. Shadows had a strange relationship with him too, pulling at him, yet at the same time being repulsed.

Saibot had never closed his eyes during the quiet laughter, all the while tearing through Scorpion's defenses to peer into his very soul. When the short, deep burst subsided, Saibot resumed his conversation with the undead man opposite him. "Don't play dumb, Scorpion. We both know why I'm here."

Scorpion had had enough. His katana seemed to jump into his hand, flames licking along its length. "I've had enough of your twisted words, demon. Face me or flee!"

"You really don't know," Saibot said, quiet amazement seeping through his words.

"I know you will fall this day," Scorpion snarled as he lunged toward the hellion bent on tormenting his already haunted subsistence.

Suddenly he felt his feet fly out from beneath him, but Scorpion did not lose control. He allowed one hand to let go of his katana to find balance on the ground while he lowered his center of gravity. While regaining his footing, he lost sight of Saibot for a mere half-second, but it seemed that was still too long. The hallway, when he looked now, was completely devoid of life.

"Impressive," Saibot spoke from somewhere off to Scorpion's left. Scorpion quickly pivoted, katana swinging, but there was nothing there. Or was there? Shadowed by the shadows, two pricks of light looked on at him, never in his focus. Always just on the edges, teasing him, mercilessly taunting him.

"Show yourself!" Scorpion bellowed, the sound of his voice echoing back, mocking him. Then his vision flickered as a fist hard a granite, yet oily in its feel, slammed into his skull. Scorpion staggered back as his mind registered laughter, similar to Saibot's, but rougher, like scraping a knee on concrete. It gurgled quickly and quietly then dissipated as quickly as it started.

"What sorcery is this?" Scorpion shouted to the impassive air. "Face me!"

"Here I am," he heard Saibot whisper from behind him. Scorpion spun for the last time and faced his adversary of so recent. "Try to remember," Saibot earnestly mocked. Scorpion began to shoot his kunai but was forestalled by Saibot. An oily shadow, an exact copy of Saibot himself, suddenly shot out of Saibot and skated at crippling speed toward Scorpion. Belatedly, Scorpion attempted to block, but the greasy mass smashed into him unhindered, forcing the golden specter to step back.

Saibot began walking toward his beleaguered prey, sending his doppelganger out before him with every slow stride. Scorpion felt his anger turn to rage as the mass he could not harm smashed his bones and pounded what passed for flesh on the specter and mocked him with his eyes and his god forsaken chuckle.

In one last ditch effort, Scorpion encased his body in flames, but to no avail. Both Saibot and his copycat simply halted and watched him, safe in the knowledge that he could not hold the flames long and amused that he had been driven so far.

When the last of his energy had been expended in the dancing protective flames, Scorpion finally let them go whispering away. He gulped air as he brought up his fists in a fighting stance, but his chest heaved so hard it made his ribs ache and his feet were far too heavy. Saibot looked at him with his burning eyes and Scorpion felt the end was near.

"REMEMBER ME!" Saibot shouted as he suddenly shot forward, driving his foot into Scorpions stomach. Bile coated Scorpion's tongue as the air fled his body. Suddenly he felt the doppelganger behind him, twisting his arms, forcing him into a kneeling position.

Saibot slowly approached the specter and crouched in front of him. "Look into my eyes and tell me who I am," he commanded. Scorpion did as he was asked and for the first time examined the black warrior's eyes for no other purpose than to examine them.

Suddenly the itch in his brain exploded. "You!" he half gasped, half shouted.

"Yes, it is me," Saibot conceded. "Or rather, what's left of me. You were a good little minion, doing exactly what Quan Chi wanted, even if you didn't know it."

"I… I killed you," Scorpion muttered as the wheels of his already shaky brain began to smoke.

"Yes, you did. Just like Quan Chi wanted, you pathetic little pawn." Scorpion felt the hatred drip from his words.

"I am no man's toy! I was seeking revenge! You killed my family and-" Scorpion was cut off by a fist, this time actually Saibot's, smashing across his face.

"When will you listen? I did not kill your family or your clan, although I wish I had," Saibot sneered. "Who told you that? Quan Chi. Why? To manipulate you. That's all you're good for," Saibot scoffed. Scorpion hated the calm way in which the demon was speaking.

Scorpion did not want to believe what the fiend was saying, but somewhere, he knew it to be true. It all made sense, horrible, repulsive sense. But Saibot was not yet finished.

"But Quan Chi knew we could not coexist. No, one of us would ultimately destroy the other." Saibot grabbed Scorpions face with both his hands, one on either side. Scorpion struggled in the doppelganger's hold, but the slimy shadow held firm and the struggle was pointless.

In his final moments, Scorpion pieced together the puzzle. If Sub-Zero had not killed his clan, but Quan Chi already knew who had, Quan Chi must have -

"I guess that one," Scorpion felt a pulse slide through Saibot's arms, and his last feeling was that of his head whipping around to an impossible angle.

"Is me."


End file.
